Matt and Ally's Adventures: Back to My Roots: Ally and Jussi Return to Finland (Part 2

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the squirrels are frolicking. It's a crisp 7 degrees and we're soaking up the fresh air.

On Sunday morning we went to a nearby church and met some welcoming locals. I understood little of the sermon, but enjoyed singing the Finnish hymns and followed what I could. After getting lost and arriving an hour early, we wandered along the canal and saw a few cheeky red mushrooms and the beautiful birch trees glowing red with autumn colours. Later we stopped by the wharf in Lahti and found an ex-military boat for sale, cannons and all.

Just one of Päivi's many delicious dinners for us!

From Timo & Paivi's house in Vesivehmaa we have explored the local area hunting for mushrooms and found other delightful treats on the way - the last of the season's wild blueberries! And the first lingonberries coming to fruit. Idly picking mushrooms while wandering through the forests is a lovely way to spend an afternoon with a belly full of rye and fish and we were quite content walking on the moss-covered ground.

There's a tonttu in the forest!

Blueberry hands :D

Lucky to find these mushrooms!

I want to pick them all!

Geoff, dad and I traveled down to Helsinki for a couple of days to see the city sights. We visited Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral and the market place filled with tasty treats and gifts. The Russian Orthodox church, cut into the side of a rocky crop beside the quay, closed the day we arrived and will reopen next week.. typical! I popped into a ballet shop to get some supplies for a class or two that I hope to take while I'm here, a stunning red skirt and some new shoes - conveniently my shoes at home have been tiptoeing on the edge of retirement. But most of the day was spent at Seurasaari, an island park that houses traditional log cabins and very old buildings collected and brought there from all over Finland for preservation. We walked the circular path and squirrels and birds came a little too close for comfort (in my opinion). The cabins ranged from traditional farm houses and meat stores, to church boats and a manor house. A perfect way to spend an afternoon. Dad and I rounded it off with a seriously tasty pizza and salad, not very Finnish, but soo good.

Almost us ;)

Pulla break ;)

Old tardis ;)

On Wednesday morning Geoff got stuck into business so dad and I went off on our own. After getting a little lost we checked out the National Museum of Finland, which houses historical paintings and items used in every day life, like baskets made of birch-bark and liquor tankards. There was a display that showed the change in boarder with Russia over time, and an exhibit on life in Lapland for the Sami natives. After walking our legs off we went back to the market and took our time selecting rye bread, lihapirraka (traditional meat pies), blueberry pies, pulla and the most important silli, dad & mum's fabled marinated herring. We sat together at the wharf with our legs hanging over the water, eating our picnic and watching the people and boats around us. An utterly perfect way to spend an afternoon with my dad.